


Bang and Burn

by SuchaPrettyPoison



Series: In Every Timeline [3]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: 1960s, Alternate Universe, Cold War, Espionage, F/M, Romance, Russian Oliver, Spies & Secret Agents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-29
Updated: 2016-09-29
Packaged: 2018-08-18 13:39:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8163880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuchaPrettyPoison/pseuds/SuchaPrettyPoison
Summary: Well it hadn’t gone as horribly as it could have gone.  Granted, Felicity was now being chased by what she could only assume was Adonis reincarnated - because the man was too perfect to be of mortal men - but she had been expecting it to go much worse and she did get the intel on the nuclear device.





	

**Author's Note:**

> “We will not prematurely or unnecessarily risk the costs of a worldwide nuclear war in which even the fruits of victory would be ashes in our mouth — but neither shall we shrink from that risk any time it must be faced.”  
> \- John F. Kennedy, 1963

“Okay. I’m going to need you to say that again sir. I think we have a faulty connection.” Felicity’s voice noted her anxiety that she may have heard the request properly the first time. She wasn’t a field agent; she was very happy being behind the scenes giving the field agents information. Yes, she had been hand selected and went through the same training, but she was very content with sitting at her desk sorting through data and information.

“We need you in the field. Your handler is from MI6, goes by the name Diggle. He’ll meet you are the private airfield behind Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport in two hours and provide you with further details.” Director Lance waited for a half a beat as Felicity managed to choke out a noise of affirmation that she understood and would follow through before he disconnected the secured line without another word.

Bright sunlight was streaming in through the open window in the small Roman hotel room which Felicity had booked for a two-week long vacation which was three years overdue. She had promised herself that after graduation that she would take this trip, but as life would have it, her perfectly laid plan did not work out as she had intended. Even now her plans had gone array. 

Her Roman dream vacation had lasted all of thirteen hours, and a solid six of those hours she had slept in hopes of pushing through jet lag. Now, her trip had been cut horribly short and it was all she could do to hold back her tears. Standing by the open window, still dressed in her light floral pajama set from the night before, she let the soft breeze play across her skin as she gathered her wits about her.

The director wouldn’t call if it wasn’t an urgent matter. She wouldn’t of gotten a British handler if it wasn’t a serious situation. The agency knew that she was taking this well deserved time off, but she was one of the leading counterintelligence desk agents that the United States had, and if she was needed, her Roman holiday would just have to wait a bit longer. Forcing herself away from the window, she moved to her suitcase which was filled with brightly colored mini dresses she’d artfully selected for the trip. The polyester fabric was heavy and structured, allowing her to wear the short dresses without fear of a breeze causing the fabric to dance around too much. 

She was not mentally prepared for a field assignment.

XxX

“Ready Miss Smoak?” Diggle’s warm voice broke through Felicity’s wandering mind. Since arriving at the private airfield and meeting her handler, she’d been given a heavily redacted file which contained highly sensitive information pertaining to a nuclear device which was being constructed by an underground group with ties to escaped Nazi scientist. She was needed to gather information. They wanted her to get a personal view of what they were building so that counter measures could be put in place. Yes, they wanted her to disarm it, but at this point both the British and American governments just wanted more information on what they were dealing with and they didn’t want anyone else knowing.

So they were sending her in. Felicity Smoak, the girl who was recruited at her college graduation and was promised a desk job after she discovered that she was really not a fan of weapons. She knew why they were sending her in. This was in her area of specialty; that combined with her photographic memory and fluency in French, she was the best option they had on this last minute operation.

Felicity could do this. She was a trained agent. This mission worked to all of her strengths. She had a great team backing her. Plus, given her gender, age, and hair color, people tended to underestimate her abilities and considered her (upon initial meeting) a throwaway. 

Not Diggle though. 

The handler didn’t bat at eye when she showed up at the airfield wearing one of her newly purchased mini dresses, the bright pattern contrasted with his subdued tailored suit, drawing a sharp disparity on first glance. Then there was the notable size difference. She didn’t look like an agent in any sense of the word, but that didn’t stop Diggle from giving her a warm professional greeting as he ushered her one to a small plane charted to Paris and handed her a file. He seemed to trust her instinctively and that was a shot of confidence that she needed at the present juncture.

Upon their landing in Paris it had been a blur of activity and an over load of information. Now was the moment of truth.

XxX

Well it hadn’t gone as horribly as it could have gone. Granted, she was now being chased by what she could only assume was Adonis reincarnated – because the man was too perfect to be of mortal men – but she had been expecting it to go much worse and she did get the intel on the nuclear device. Felicity needed a moment to come up with a clear way to disarm it, but it wasn’t fully functional, though in a week’s time it would be. But at this particular point in time she made her way methodically through the tight streets of Paris, her destination a beacon to where she would make her grand disappearing act. The fact that the organization had fitted her with a stunning gold Givenchy gown had allowed her to blend in with the sea of designer dresses, but it had proved to be a beacon for Adonis. 

This mission had just cemented in her mind that field work was not for her. Yes, she could do it, but she much rather be at her station doing her own particular brand of espionage. Felicity had split up with the British agent they had paired her with her, who had gotten her into the party, to go about her mission. She knew that if she was caught, no country would claim her. She knew the signs of, an off the record mission. She was an American, with a British handler, completing a mission in France which French intelligence could know nothing about. It was all backwards and secrets on secrets, a clandestine operation. Even she didn’t know fully why they were involved. 

Cutting her lights, she cut a sharp turn down a dank alleyway, knowing by the semantics she’d been given earlier that the alley narrowed to where the car would be wedged tight and she had only moments to get out from the sunroof. Adonis was quickly gaining on her, and she needed to reach the meeting point without him being aware of her location. 

Pushing the metal back she lifted her petite frame up and on to the roof of the small car, only to slide down the back end, and double back to a doorway as a car pulled into the alleyway. The plan had been, that if she was followed, for the person or persons to expect her to keep pressing forward. The actual plan was for her to double back and make her was to the roof of an apartment where she was expected to make her way across to another apartment, then down a fire escape, and across the ledge into the dingy apartment that had been set up or her to lie low and analyze what she’d gathered. 

Felicity tried to mask herself in the shadows, willing that the dim street light wouldn’t catch the glimmer of her dress as a car pulled in to the alley. The engine cut, and she held her breath as Adonis unfolded himself from the small car; it was impressive that he could fit such a large frame into the vehicle, she imagined that he must feel cramped inside the thing. He was cursing under his breath, distinct Russian cursing, and Felicity felt her body stiffen. Though she had a decent grasp on the language, it wasn't one that she was fluent, but she’d spent enough time doing counterintelligence to pick out the language quick. The question of the day was what kind of Russian was the man, because there were several options at hand, and none of them were particularly appealing.

After a heartbeat, a coy smile pulled at his lips and he leaned his frame against the car, which she swore moved under his weight. He knew she was still in the alleyway. This was a highly trained operative. Not a desk agent who just happened to fit into a mission perfectly. The man was a predator, and she was his prey. She needed to think of the best way out, she could out smart him, even if at the moment that she felt that she was a bunny to his hawk.

“Come out. Don’t make this difficult for yourself.” His French was impeccable and his rough voice was spoken low so it glided through the night. If she spoke he would know her location, and he could not know where she was hidden for very obvious reasons. “I give you to three.” Well, the Soviets were never known for their patience. 

She should just relieve herself and play the gender card. She could pull off the big-eyed damsel in distress routine very well. It was her best option at the moment. With a shaky breathe she put her hands up, with her open palms facing the man as she bit her quivering lip and fluttered her eyes in the hopes of gathering of tears, “Please don’t hurt me.” Her voice quaked just enough and broke at the end, but the French sounded smooth and natural. He could not know that she was American.

“I won’t. If you give me what you took.” He’d pulled himself to his full height, which dwarfed her stature, he was using his size as intimidation. Though she didn’t know what he was talking about. She hadn’t taken anything. It was part of the reason she’d been pulled from her vacation. Felicity had a photographic memory which allowed her to recall everything with exact detail, so she didn’t need to take anything and raise a red flag. She also didn’t need to take pictures and be caught with a camera in hand.

“I didn’t take anything.” His cold blue eyes bore into hers and she knew this man was a killer. It was honed skill and that knowledge caused a shiver to run down her spine.

“Then why did you run?” There was a dangerous smile pulling at his lips.

“Because you started hunting me like I was a rabbitt and I was already feeling uncomfortable in the crowd. I only came because Pierre told me that it would be a good way to meet people, Pierre is my cousin on my mother’s side; I’m new to the city. Only, he left my side the first chance he got, and then I got all turned around in that old house. You all but stalked me, then followed me in your car. I took a wrong turn, ended up in this tiny alleyway. Couldn’t back up because then you’d see me; even though that point is very moot right now. I figured I could hide and then find the police.”

“Why didn’t you go to the police first?”

“Because I just moved here and don’t know where the station is located! Do you think I’d turn down a road that my car doesn’t fit for giggles? And I don’t know what you think I took. I am not a thief. And who are you to make me feel this shaken?”

“Then you would allow me to check your purse and car.” 

“Of course. Please.” Felicity held out her blood red clutch, she saw the gentleness that had briefly entered his eyes as she had rambled on in a fit of hysteria, but wouldn’t count her eggs before they hatched.

XxX

Adonis had thoroughly searched her purse and car, before giving her a cold apology. She didn’t miss that he never revealed who he was, nor that he constantly kept her in his line of sight, though she took it that he wanted her to know that he was watching. She played her part to perfection, and figured that if she’d been a man the outcome would have been much different. 

Still, at an ungodly hour in the morning, while the stars still shone bright, Felicity made it to her designated point of contact without the perfect male specimen following her. It was a shame that he had that personality – and that he was a Russian. Russians and Americans were oil and water. It happened almost immediately after the end of World War II, the two world superpowers had extremely different economic and political views and about two years after the war had ended the tensions overflowed. Now the fear of nuclear war was ever present on the minds of Americans along with the threat posed by communism. 

Felicity needed to know his role in this. If the Russians were teaming up with Nazi scientist this was information that America needed, it meant that the threat of war had heightened. It was a thought in the back of her mind as she poured over all of the details she had on the nuclear device that was being constructed in a Parisian basement. She’d been so caught up in her work that she barely registered as Diggle made his way into the room, his suit was starched and pressed to perfection, while she sat on the floor in a pair of capris and a boxy sweater she’d thrown on the moment she’d gotten out of the designer gown.

He’d listen to her report, before taking the file she handed him and leaving the room giving her orders to stay hidden till he contacted her. Several hours later he had, and that’s how she found herself at the Louvre, wearing one of her new mod mini dresses, walking through as though she had not a care in the world and was just about to enjoy the artwork.

Taking in a particular stunning painting in a rather empty gallery, she gave a small smile as Diggle came up beside her, “I always wished I had some sort of artistic talent. But I can barely draw stick figures properly, and all those are shapes put together with lines.”

“Mondrian did well with painting boxes and only using four colors.”

“Yes, but that was an artistic choice. The man could paint.”

“You have other skills.” The warmth in Diggle’s voice didn’t mask the hint of sadness and she turned to look up at him. He discreetly handed her a small black bound book. She had the second part to this mission, and she was hoping that it would be her last. By the warring expression on his face, she figured he would like this mission to be done for her as well. 

XxX

Felicity was crammed into a dark storage room, pressed up against Adonis. If she was honest, there were worse situations that she could have found herself in.

The second part of the operation had required her to be nearly naked which meant she was working without backup; it was a risky call but one that made the most logical sense. She’d made her way, by herself, into the heavily secured house and down to the underground level which didn’t show up on the recorded blueprint schematic of the oversized house. There was a sense of accomplishment as she easily bypassed the modern security system with relative ease, only truly stopping when she made it into the vault where the weapon was being house - vault was the only way she could think to describe the heavily reinforced room. Once she knew that all the alarms were safely disabled did she turn her attention to the nuclear device which had dragged her away from her dream holiday. Felicity needed a moment to come up with a clear way to disarm it seeing as several modifications had been made in the past forty-eight hours, and that was when she heard the voices. 

In the few seconds she took to try and come up with the best plan to completely disarm the device, Adonis had made his way behind her. She knew this because the moment she heard the voices, her head snapped up only to meet his solid chest, and for his hand to clasp across her mouth preventing an audible gasp of surprise. He’d then easy moved them with a few quick strides to a door off the north east section of the room, stashing both of them inside the tight space with his hand never leaving her mouth.

Light flooded the room they had just been in, and seeped into the cramped space they were now. Voices could be heard talking in rapid fire secession but the words were indistinct. She made to fight against his hold, but he gave her a sharp shake with his fingers pressing deeper into her flesh, and she pushed all fight from her body for the moment. 

On her desk at work Felicity had a small fern which sat in the left-hand corner, it was supposed to do well away from natural light and only need some watering – she was missing her fern very much. She was going to keep her thoughts firmly on the fern and not on the fact that the situation she was in was nowhere close to being ideal. She was not going to think about how she’d almost been caught by those who were building a nuclear bomb, only to be caught by a Russian. Felicity was definitely not going to think about the Russian and how he felt pressed flushed against her, nor how his fingers which had dug into her skin now gave light strokes as though asking for forgiveness if marks were left.

So, she was going to think about the fern. The fern which she had bought on her first day of work, once it was decided what her role in the organization would be. 

Fidgeting, Felicity managed to turn herself in his hold, his hand finally falling away from her mouth and she craned her neck to look up at him. He was younger than she’d first assumed, not by much, but his face was younger without the shadows playing along the sharp lines of his features. He had a low drawn brows which brought attention to the clear color of his blue eyes, and the rough square set of his jaw had a heavy dusting of hair as though he hadn’t thought to shave since they last met. It was amazing how Adonis’ muscles tensed ever so, as she felt the weight of his attention in her and she quickly bit her bottom lip to stop herself from rambling – because that was not what either of them needed in this situation. He was looking at her as if she were a complex riddle that he was dead set on solving and that would not do, mainly because that look caused heat to sear through her. 

The voices faded from the room, there was an audible sound of a door lock clicking into place as the light went out leaving them alone in darkness and silence.

“What do you think you are doing?”

“Standing in a dark room pressed against you.” The breathless words tumbled out before she could stop them, and she felt the need to try to smooth them out so quickly pressed on, the French tumbling over itself as the words all but spilt from her lips, “Because you pulled me in her and save me from discovery. Though I do believe I could have managed on my own, I would like to thank you for grabbing me.” Felictiy was grateful for the darkness as she felt the heat flood her cheeks, “ I am making a mess of this.”

Adonis didn’t move a muscle nor made any movement to let her go. “Disabling a nuclear weapon to prevent mass causalities and a possible third world war. That’s what I’m doing and if you would just let me get back to it that would be lovely.”

With his brow drawn together her gave her a quick nod before, finally, letting her go. 

XxX

Adonis had moved from the room first and secured the area as Felicity settled in to make quick work of dismantling the inner workings of the devices as well as removing the key component – which she slipped into a secure compartment on her belt – and replacing it with a fake. It had a mix of American specs and what she had assumed to be Soviet, to create a hybrid weapon. What that meant to her was that there was a leak, and she had noted it in her original report and knew that Director Lance would lead a silent crusade to find just who was giving or selling American intel. She wondered if Adonis was there for the same reason.

He didn’t hover as she worked, but she felt his attention on her as he moved through the room, his muscles bunched like a panther poised to pounce. The moment she was done with the bomb she pulled out the notes. This part was tricky. She needed to take several of the pages away along with make alternations to those that would be left behind. Everything needed to look as though it had not been tampered with, but she needed to make sure that building anything by the schematics that they had would never work. She couldn’t take the evidence because she and Diggle had come up with a genius way to tip off the French police, and they wanted them to have enough so that all involved would get a hefty prison sentence.

Felicity looked up at Adonis when she can finished her mission and gave him a short nod. He took over the retreat, moving like a shadow in the night, and Felicity did her best to follow in his precise footsteps. Only once was there a fear of them being detected, and Adonis moved with just lightening speed to hide them from detection. She had been pressed into the ground, barely hidden by foliage as his body covered hers – though he didn’t let his weight press fully upon her she was aware of every aspect of the man – their breathes mingling. 

This Russian was dangerous in more ways than she could have guessed, and was made up of so many complex layers she wondered if there was anyone who truly knew him; himself included. He didn’t know her, yet trusted her enough to disarm the device, and had saved her from detection twice now. He was a brute of a man, yet he was extremely gentle with her and very conscious of the size and strength of his body compare to that of her own. The man had a healthy dose of both skills and intuition.

They didn’t talk through the ordeal, the only words that had been spoke had been when they were in the small room, but felicity knew that was about to change as he pulled her into the shadows of a Park several blocks from the house. Pressing into the scattering of trees, he stopped when they reached what appeared to be the center and turned to face her. 

The expression he wore was unreadable. It cause her to pull in her lips and tilt her head to the side. If he wouldn’t give anything away from his facial expressions, then neither would she.

“Who do you work for?” It was a gruffly asked question, and Felicity almost smile at how much his heavy Russian accent coated the fine French words. He was not in the mood for games, but she couldn’t and wouldn’t give him the answers he wanted.

“Are you planning on telling me who you work for then?” She watched with fascination as his jaw muscle ticked and his lips thinned. Pulling in her lips again, she let them go with a slight pop, watching as his forefinger and thumb of his right hand rubbed together as her word snuck in, “I’d like to think we both got what we wanted. Saving the world wise, that is. And I’m not naive enough to think that you didn’t obtain additional information but I don’t think either one of us is up for sharing more than that.”

“You are not French.”

“Neither are you.” Felicity gave him a bright smile and held out her hand, a small black device was a glaring contract to her pale skin. “Putting a tracker on a girl gives off the wrong impression. I believe Russian made.” 

XxX

There was a needle poised to press to the flesh of Felicity’s carotid artery that would cause her a quick but exceedingly painful – very premature – death. The past couple of days had been a blur. She had gotten a name; Slade Wilson was an ex-soldier turned business man from New Zealand who had been making waves in the French market, and was assigned to gather up as much information on the man as she could. He was thought to be the puppet master of this whole ordeal. All she needed to do was gather information and had it off to Diggle who would then hand it off to Director Lance. 

Her two-week vacation in Rome had become a two-week in France mission, which felt like it was never ending. 

She had needed to reach the top floor of the building she was currently standing in front of. It was secure, but that’s where all the intel was. She needed to get her hands on it and in doing so, she’d find the mole in the organization as well. There was a lot riding in her, and she was dreaming more and more often of her lovely desk back at work, and her typewriter. She missed typing up the information that was gathered and analyzing it.

“Darling.” The moment she heard his voice she had turned to see Adonis walking to her with quick strides. They were working the same mission, just from two very different nations, so it was no real surprise that he was here. What was the surprise was how easily he put on a character. He took her hand and gave a light, giving her a quick kiss on the forehead, “Have you been waiting long?” 

There was the distinct Russian accent when he spoke French, and she was very curious how he would sound if he were to speak English; but she wasn’t going to dwell on that matter. Giving a light shake of her held she turned her gaze up to him, as she felt a ring sliding into place on her finger. He had expected to see her here. He’d formulated a plan under the assumption that she would willingly help him. She wondered how he would feel if he found out who she really was. 

Together they made their way into the building as though they had every right to be there. Adonis causally led her to the elevator – his thumb gently caressing the dip of her hip – he gave her a slight tug the moment they were in the elevator, which had her pulled nearly flush against his body, she looked up at him with parted lips and he gave her a smile that appeared to actually be part genuine before he began to lower his head at an angle. The world slowed as the doors closed and he changed direction to talk directly in her ear.

“We need to get to the secure floor.”

“We can do that. Well, I can do that. Is this your way of asking me to get us there because you have a habit of stating questions as more of commanding statements? So, I just need some verification, because if you have a plan I’d love to listen. Mine is a combination of wire crossing and maneuvering through the elevator shaft till we reach the top floor, then you can take care of the guards deal. Or if we get to the stairwell, we can play the newlywed or newly engaged card which causes people to turn a blind eye because public affection is proven to make most people uncomfortable. What are we supposed to be? That sounds like a loaded question, please don’t answer. Oh! I could just cause a power outage. That might be easier.” She had rambled. She had been doing so well, but it seemed that her locking down the ramble had cause it all to spill out at once. Adonis kept his face near the crock of her neck, and she pulled in her lips hoping that would stop the words from tumbling out.

“They put you in the field.”

She couldn’t place his words. It wasn’t as if he had received a dossier on her, and he knew just how capable she was. Her specialties were nuclear engineering and mathematics, with a heavy dose of technology. Felicity knew how she read on paper, she sounded ideal in most aspects of this particular mission. Still, he’d witness her talents first hand, just as she’d witness his.

He moved his head so that his lips barely grazed along her jaw as his gaze met hers and she saw the heat in them. He hadn’t meant it as in insult. Once they finished this not really working together, but working together mission they would part ways. There was no way around it and there was no hope in wishing for a fantasy to come true. She didn’t need her heart caught up in an affair like this, she would not be anyone’s Juliet. Felicity needed to keep her thoughts on her fern.

They had managed to get top floor access for all of ten minutes, before being escorted out. They had easily played the lost newly engaged couple who were oblivious to the outside world, but it had clearly been enough to put her on the radar of Slade Wilson. He’d had her taken as she rounded the corner of a café the next day and had held her since. 

He was using her as bait, she’d picked that up quick enough, and it seemed that he had got what he wanted if the smile on his face when Adonis appeared was anything to go by. This was not how she was going to die. She still needed her Roman holiday first.

Slade Wilson made a clucking noise with his tongue as she stiffened her body. He was large man, even larger than Adonis, and easily subdued her. She had no weapon on her, there was a taser in her purse disguised as a makeup compact, but her purse was lying across the room where Adonis looked like a man bent on killing. 

Felicity knew that he was a calm agent. All his movements had an effortless grace and his temper was set at a consistent cool when focused on a mission, but all that was gone, a switch was flipped and he was now a predator who had the taste of blood in his mouth. He would not let her die, she was certain of it.

“Let the girl go.” His Russian accent heavily coat the English words, and Felicity held back an involuntarily response to his words.

“What is it about her? I had planned on causing nuclear war, but this may be the sweetest way to begin my revenge my old friend.”

“Slade.”

“She is lovely, your American.” Adonis showed no sign of surprise, but his jaw jutted slightly as if in defiance. “I keep my promises, kid. I promised I would tear your world apart like you did mine.” 

There was a lot of back story that she was missing out on, but several things were clear from the context of their conversation: they knew each other, Slade was going to kill her because it he thought it would upset Adonis, this entire thing was about revenge. The man had ordered the construction on a nuclear weapon all for revenge, Felicity had been pulled from her vacation because of this, and Diggle was probably worried about her because she hadn’t made her scheduled contact. She was not going to die over a petty revenge game.

That was her last thought as the needle plunged into her skin, a gunshot was fired, and her world went dark.

XxX

“Okay. I’m going to need you to repeat that once more for me sir. From the top. I think we have a faulty connection.” Felicity smiled into the phone as she heard Director Lance grumble an ocean away. It had taken nine more months, but she’d made it back to Rome. 

She’d awoken in a Paris hospital room several night after the incident. The room has been dark, with Diggle taking up the armchair in the far corner of the room sound asleep, and Adonis was there by her bedside. She remembered the look of relief in his eyes, the memory was so vivid that she new it wasn’t a delusion she’d created. He had been in her hospital room, while a British handler slept, to make certain that she was alright. He’d placed a kiss on her forehead and that was all she remembered before sleep claimed her again; it was the last time she saw him. Three-weeks later she had been cleared for work. Felicity had never been so happy to see her desk and fern.

Life had been easy to settle into a easy rhythm. Work was challenging, but it came with the job. She was never going to have the quintessential 9 to 5 job. She had no desire to meet a man to take care of her. Her work was rewarding and with the relationship she’d formed with Diggle during the France mission, the British government had tapped her to help with an assignment just the other month. Once it was settled that she just needed to come to London for a week to help pour over data and that there would be no actual field work she’d gotten the necessary approval.

“I will see you in two-weeks Ms. Smoak.” The director ended the call. He’d had a particular sense of guilt when it came to her and she knew that it came from the mission she got pulled into where she had come to the brink of death. It hadn’t been his fault, though she knew no matter how many time he would hear the words he wouldn’t believe them. 

There was a light rap on her door as she settled the receiver back into its cradle before trending her bare feet across the room to answer the summons. She half wondered who would be calling on her at this hour of evening. In all honesty she should have been out, but she’d nearly just arrived and wanted to be well rested for the itinerary she’d meticulously planned which started tomorrow morning.

Without a second thought she opened the door and her breath got caught in her throat.  
Adonis.

He was standing in front of her in all his perfection, with a barely there smile that hinted at nerves. His hands were shoved into the pockets of his pants which brought attention to the muscular cuts of his arms, and even with the slight nervousness she detected from him, he still had that causal ease that made him seem in command. 

“Hello.” It was an overly breathy greeting, but seeing as all her breath had been caught in her throat she was going to run with in. Felicity watch as his eyes skated over her face and it hit her it was the first time that he heard the way she normally spoke, not normally per say, but it was English instead of the French she’d used during their time together. 

“How are you?” Concern wove through his rough accented English, and Felicity was certain her heart was going to burst an the sound. She never thought she'd hear his voice again. 

“I’m good. I’m great. I’m doing good. I mean well. I’m doing well. Very well. You’re in Rome.” Pulling in her lips before she could blather on she tried not to let herself wallow for a moment in how she had answered his very simple question.

“Yes.” A boyish smile spread across his features. Diggle had mentioned she talked in her sleep and while she was heavily medicated. It had also been reported that a man had been at the scene tending to her as the ambulance arrived, and she knew instinctually that he wouldn’t have left her side until he knew she was safe. She must have told him, or just told the world in general, how she couldn’t die because she hadn’t had her Roman holiday. And she knew that if she were to shut her door that he would leave and disappear without a trace. She held all the power.

He was out of his element and his hidden awkwardness was endearing. Waiting for her acceptance of him standing before her, the vulnerability was almost tangible now that she understood. The question now came of how was she going to respond.

Opening the door a little wider and she extended her hand; proper introductions were long overdue. The brightness of his smile rivaled her own as he took her hand, because he knew what that small action meant. They knew each other on a rare instinctual level which she wasn’t willing to let that go and neither was he. 

“I’m Felicity.” 

“Oliver.”

**Author's Note:**

> Oh dear. I'm pretty sure this is rough, and when I say pretty I mean I know it is and just lack the ability to care at this present juncture. This stems from the fact that my laptop keyboard seems to be dying, so it's taking me ages and a half to type anything, and the other half of the time I'm talking myself out of throwing it at a wall - at this moment the wall looks like a tempting offer.
> 
> Anywho...I just needed this posted and hopefully I'll stop fretting over it (I wont). I wanted something light, but not hardcore stereotypical 1960s. Still I definitely wanted a hint of Cold War and espionage, so this was born from that.
> 
> This is part of the 'In Every Timeline' series, which is me just wanting to write in different time eras. That's all it really is. 
> 
> It's wordy and the tenses change. But I do hope that it's different and fresh.
> 
> Sorry for my prolonged absence! I shall leave you all with a brilliant quote:
> 
> “Stop sending people to kill me. We’ve already captured five of them, one of them with a bomb, another with a rifle. If you don’t stop sending killers, I’ll send one to Moscow – and I won’t have to send a second.”  
> Letter to Joseph Stalin from Yugoslav leader Yosip Tito, circa 1950


End file.
